Healthcare SOS says signatures aren’t enough to save Douglas Memorial

Fort Erie’s council delegation opened two days of provincial meetings in Ottawa on Monday, but the town’s leading healthcare advocate says residents must now lobby the province themselves to save Douglas Memorial Hospital.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference brings municipal leaders together with provincial ministers each August to raise local priorities.

Heather Kelley, founder of Healthcare SOS, told Fort Erie Radio that the group has spent three years asking governments at all three levels to fund the Bertie Street site. She said residents have to carry that message now.

“It’s not enough that we just sign a piece of paper and walk away,” said Kelley. “We really have to get involved.”

Ward 2 Councillor Nick Dubanow set out the delegation’s schedule in a Facebook post before leaving. He drove Councillors George McDermott Joan Christensen to Ottawa, where they joined Coun. Tom Lewis, Mayor Wayne Redekop and town chief administrative officer Chris McQueen.

Monday’s five meetings cover citizenship and multiculturalism, red tape reduction, tourism, culture and gaming, infrastructure and agriculture.

Tuesday’s three cover labour and immigration, the solicitor general and natural resources. The delegation was also invited to meet the leader of the Official Opposition.

“We aren’t going to agree with the province on everything, but the more often we speak directly and honestly with one another, the better we understand each other’s priorities and challenges,” Dubanow wrote.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones addresses the full conference Tuesday morning, according to AMO’s published program. Healthcare SOS said council delegates have told the group they will meet the health minister after the conference ends.

Kelley’s group collected more than 10,000 signatures in its first year and has campaigned since 2023 to keep Douglas Memorial running as a working health facility. Closing it would push Fort Erie and Port Colborne patients into the three hospitals left in Niagara.

“We know that there’s outrageous wait times right now,” said Kelley.

The province has promised a family doctor for every Ontarian. Kelley said that promise does not remove the need for a hospital close to home.

“Even with a primary care physician, it doesn’t eliminate the need for them to have their patients go into the hospital or go to emergency or go to an urgent care,” said Kelley.

Douglas Memorial’s urgent care centre now opens from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Niagara Health ended 24-hour service in 2023. Residents who need care outside those hours drive to Niagara Falls.

“Not everyone can travel into Niagara Falls,” said Kelley.

She also wants to see more advocacy from younger residents.

Kelley said she reads Facebook comments mocking the older women who hold banners on Fort Erie street corners. High school students walking past on their lunch break tell her something different.

“They’re encouraging us to be there for them as well,” said Kelley.

Redekop also has a separate meeting in Ottawa about regional government. He and the mayors of seven other Niagara municipalities will sit down with Rob Flack, Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing.

Flack introduced a bill in April that would cut Niagara’s regional council from 31 members to 13. Under that bill, the 12 local mayors would fill the seats and the province would appoint the chair.

The conference closes Wednesday. Kelley said residents should contact their elected representatives before the delegation returns home.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This original story was written by Aniah Marouf, a student entering Grade 9 at Greater Fort Erie Secondary School. Marouf participated in Fort Erie Radio’s first-ever broadcast and journalism boot camp for teens on August 15, 2026. Her story includes files from lead reporter Andrew Hawlitzky.

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